Sacred Heart Catholic Church, Mathura

The Sacred Heart Catholic Church is an architecturally notable church in Mathura, Uttar Pradesh, India. The design combines Gothic principles, Indian craftsmanship, and a Russian dome.

Sacred Heart Catholic Church
Sacred Heart Catholic Church (2023)
27°29′03.7″N 77°41′40.3″E
LocationMathura
CountryIndia
DenominationRoman Catholic
History
Founded1874
Founder(s)Frederic Growse
Administration
ArchdioceseArchdiocese of Agra

It was built in the 1870s by Frederic Growse, a British civil servant, and convert to Catholicism, on the site of a shed which had previously been used as a Catholic chapel. Growse paid a third of the cost, with donations also being received from the bankers Seth Lachhman Das and Seth Lakhmi Chand, and others. The Persian carpet covering the steps of the altar was given by John W. Tyler, and the stations of the cross came from the 10th Royal Hussars. Examples of local art are seen in the carvings on its doorways, window traceries and the kiosks by the dome. Growse intended it for a mixed congregation of Europeans and Indians.

Origins

The first stone was laid on 18 January 1874, on the site of a shed which had been used as a Catholic chapel dedicated to St Francis Apostle of the Poor.[1] Mathura already had an Anglican church, built in the Italianate style, for the use of British troops stationed there.[2] Frederic Growse, an officer posted to Mathura in the 1870s who had converted to Catholicism,[3] was an enthusiast for Indian arts and crafts, and set out to plan a Catholic church in that style.[2][4][5]

  • Sacred Heart Catholic Church at the time of its construction
    Sacred Heart Catholic Church at the time of its construction[1]
  • Interior view (19th century)
    Interior view (19th century)[6]

Design and construction

The church's grounds and general proportions were planned according to Gothic principles, while the rest of the church is "purely oriental in design".[2] He employed local craftsmen.[7] Examples of local art are seen in the carvings on its doorways, the window traceries and the kiosks by the dome.[2] Growse initially proposed to design the dome based on the spire of the Hindu temple Madan Mohan, at Brindaban, but fearing opposition, changed his plan and designed it in the Russian style instead.[1][2] After the Indian Rebellion of 1857, attempts to introduce Indo-Saracenic architecture was seen by the British in India as controversial.[2][8]

Growse regarded the church as unfinished, due to his forced removal from his post at Mathura to serve in another district.[4]

  • Exterior
    Exterior
  • Unfinished pillar
    Unfinished pillar
  • Interior
    Interior
  • Interior
    Interior
  • Ceiling
    Ceiling

Contributors

Frederic Growse paid one third of the cost of the church,[3] and donations were also received from the bankers Seth Lachhman Das and Seth Lakhmi Chand,[8] Captain Boyce Combe, the Lord Bishop of Agra, Seth Gobind Das, and others.[6] The crucifix was donated by Lord Ralph Kerr, the Persian carpet covering the steps of the altar was given by John W. Tyler, the stations of the cross came from the 10th Royal Hussars, and the crystal chandelier for the choir from John Ellis of Agra.[6] Lala Badri Prasad donated a marble chair, Lala Ratan Lal gave the font, and Seth Raghunath Das donated a further marble chair and chandelier.[6]

Reception

Growse was proud of the church, saying that visitors would "immediately understand that it was a Catholic Church, built in an eastern country for the use of a mixed congregation of Europeans and orientals" that mixed "oriental and western ideas".[9] He reproduced favourable press comments in the reprint of his book Mathurá: A district memoir.[9]

References
  1. Growse, Frederic Salmon (1883). Mathurá: A district memoir. Allahabad: North-western provinces and Oudh government Press. pp. 160–162.
  2. Metcalf, Thomas R. (1984). "Architecture and the Representation of Empire: India, 1860–1910". Representations (6): 59. doi:10.2307/2928537. ISSN 0734-6018. JSTOR 2928537.
  3. "Obituary", The Imperial and Asiatic Quarterly Review and Oriental and Colonial Record, New Series, Vol. VI, Nos. 11 & 12 (1893). pp. 223–225.
  4. Metcalfe, Thomas R. (1989). An Imperial Vision: Indian architecture and Britain's Raj. Berkeley: University of California Press. pp. 55–56. ISBN 0-520-06235-3.
  5. "Notes of the Quarter (April, May, June, 1893) III Obituary Notices", Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society of Great Britain and Ireland, July 1893, pp. 650–652.
  6. Growse, 1883, pp. 417–418.
  7. Mayer, Roberta A.; Forest, Lockwood De (2010). Lockwood de Forest: Furnishing the Gilded Age with a Passion for India. Newark: Associated University Presse. p. 83. ISBN 978-0-87413-973-0.
  8. Growse, 1883, pp. 15–16.
  9. Metcalfe, 1989, p. 101.
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